Competitors are jockeying to capture customers from HasOffers and Kontagent in the wake of Facebook’s decision to drop the two companies from its mobile measurement partner (MMP) program.
HasOffers is the larger of the two MMPs shown the door last week for violating Facebook’s data policies. It has some very large app customers representing significant mobile ad spend, including Spotify, Zynga and Supercell.
These mobile apps rely on HasOffers and its competitors to attribute their mobile ad buys across a range of traffic sources, including mobile publishers, ad networks and exchanges. The question is: Will they settle for an attribution system that can’t measure Facebook conversions?
Remaining MMP players aren’t waiting to find out. Many are reaching out to HasOffers customers either directly, through blog posts, or via outreach to other mobile ad companies that represent significant demand (hence, referral potential).
“There’s a scramble to make good recommendations around attribution,” said Adam Berke, CEO of AdRoll. AdRoll isn’t a MMP but offers a mobile retargeting solution that depends on tracking providers to prove its effectiveness.
One MMP, Kochava, cobbled together a landing page designed to capture HasOffers customers by matching the company’s terms. Founded in 2011 to offer back-end tools for app creation, Kochava eventually began offering effectiveness tracking and quickly realized that was the bigger opportunity. Today it plugs into 300 mobile publishers, ad networks and exchanges.
Another MMP, Apsalar, offers “all-in-one” app analytics, data decisioning and ad placement. Its product team has developed an API solution allowing HasOffers customers to use Apsalar tracking for Facebook with their existing HasOffers SDK – with the eventual goal being an installation of Apsalar’s full SDK. Like Kochava, Apsalar has published guidelines for mobile apps seeking a new attribution solution.
The tool, said company CEO Michael Oiknine, also works in conjunction with other mobile measurement solutions.
Meanwhile HasOffers is working hard to hold on to its existing customers – advising them to directly install the Facebook SDK, and to measure it alongside its platform. The company is also preparing to release a top 10 list of mobile advertising partners besides Facebook.
“There is a story to tell that Facebook’s not the only player in this ecosystem,” said HasOffers CEO Peter Hamilton.
Here’s a quick rundown of some other MMP tracking vendors:
AppsFlyer: A tracking pure play like HasOffers, AppsFlyer counts Foursquare, Sega and Domino’s among its customers. Its mobile publisher and network integrations number about 300.
Localytics: Boston-based Localytics has served app marketing needs of some enterprise marketers, including eBay, CVS, Salesforce.com and The New York Times.
Ad-X Tracking: A division of France-based retargeting company Criteo, Ad-X Tracking is based in Palo Alto with significant business in London and Europe.
Trademob: Also based in Europe, Trademob plugs into 230 inventory sources. It promises to “find the right media mix for every stage in your app marketing lifecycle.”
CyberZ: A Japanese company that offers install ads and tracking for smartphone apps and mobile Web sites. Its measurement tool is called “Force Operation X.”
Septeni: Likewise based in Japan, Septeni has satellite offices in Singapore in the US. It bills itself as an agency with a proprietary mobile tracking tech.
Story previously stated Ad-X Tracking is based “mostly in London.” In fact, its headquarters is in Palo Alto.
